Unplanned global oil supply disruptions reached a record high, according to the US Energy Information Administration (EIA).
Disruptions averaged more than 3.6 million barrels per day in May 2016, the highest monthly level recorded since EIA started tracking global disruptions in January 2011.
Canada, Nigeria, Iraq, and Libya all experienced set-backs, according to EIA’s latest report.
It read: “In Canada, the evacuation of oil workers because of wildfires in Fort McMurray, Alberta, reduced Canada’s oil sands production and led to an average 0.8 million b/d supply disruption in May, with a daily disruption peak of more than 1.1 million b/d. In late May, workers began returning to the area, and production is gradually restarting at a number of projects.
“In Nigeria, an escalation in militant attacks on oil and natural gas infrastructure led to a substantial increase in supply disruptions in May, which averaged 0.8 million b/d, almost 0.3 million b/d higher than in April. Nigeria’s crude oil production fell to an average of 1.4 million b/d in May, its lowest monthly level since the late 1980s. The infrastructure attacks are occurring in response to President Buhari’s restructuring and planned phase-out of the amnesty program, discontinued pipeline protection contracts to former militants, and the increased military presence in the Niger Delta. For the first five months of 2016, Nigeria’s supply disruptions averaged 0.5 million b/d, 0.2 million b/d more than in 2015. EIA expects Nigeria’s disruptions to remain relatively high through 2017.
“In southern Iraq, power outages and inclement weather in the Basra Gulf contributed to a 50,000 b/d increase to Iraq’s supply disruption. In Libya, exports from Marsa al-Hariga, currently Libya’s largest operating oil terminal, were temporarily halted from late-April to mid-May, increasing Libya’s disruption by an average of 50,000 b/d in May. Exports from the terminal resumed after the rival state oil companies signed a deal to restart exports.”
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